


Contamination: Book 4

by Lightfyre



Series: Contamination [4]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-06 07:43:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16828198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightfyre/pseuds/Lightfyre
Summary: ForestClan returns to their home, with Lynxstar as their leader. However, the Dark Ones still lurk around. In this final chapter of the Contamination series, all three Clans must give all they have to defeat these ghastly creatures, and make some difficult sacrifices.





	1. Allegiances

**Allegiances**

**ForestClan**

Leader: Lynxstar- golden tabby and white tom with black-tipped ears and tail; has amber eyes  
Deputy: Grayspots- spotted gray tom with green eyes  
Medicine Cat: Hemlocktail- gray and white tom with green eyes 

Warriors: 

Sprucetail- dark brown tom with black splotches and a white chest; has yellow eyes  
Starlingwind- mottled pale brown tabby tom with green eyes  
Thornfire- ginger tabby tom with a scarred face and amber eyes 

Queens: 

Cherryleaf- light brown tabby she-cat with green eyes  
(Mother to Grayspots’s kits: Cloudkit, a light brown she-kit with white splotches, and Mistkit, a spotted gray she-kit)

Tulipwhisker- black, red, and white tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes  
(Mother to Starlingwind’s kits: Flamekit, a speckled dark red she-kit, and Frogkit, a pale brown tabby and white tom-kit) 

Fircloud- thick-furred dark tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes  
(Expecting Thornfire’s kits) 

**LakeClan**

Leader: Shellstar- large, thick-furred white she-cat with dark brown flecks and pale yellow eyes  
Deputy: Bluefrost- gray tabby tom with a white chest and brilliant blue eyes  
Medicine Cat: Grebefeather- dark tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes  
Messenger Cat: Peachglow- pale ginger she-cat with amber eyes

Warriors: 

Craneflight- huge, longhaired, light gray tabby and white tom with blue eyes  
Ripplemist- light gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
Icewillow- longhaired pale gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes  
Flashfire- ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes  
Blackfish- black tom  
Pikewhisker- dark brown tabby tom  
Plumshade- black and ginger she-cat  
Nightpuddle- black she-cat with bright blue eyes  
Sandblaze- pale ginger tom  
Lightflower- longhaired yellow tabby she-cat

Queens: 

Smewflight- longhaired dark brown tabby and white she-cat  
(Mother to Blackfish’s kits: Minkkit, a tiny dark brown tabby and white she-kit, and Shaggykit, a longhaired black tom-kit) 

**CliffClan**

Leader: Drizzlestar- huge light gray tom with darker gray flecks and blue eyes  
Deputy: Robinsong- pale brown she-cat with amber eyes  
Medicine Cat: Grousetail- gray tabby tom with blue eyes  
Messenger Cat: Skywind- longhaired light brown tom with sky blue eyes 

Warriors: 

Bramblesnow- slender dark brown tabby she-cat with a white face and blue eyes  
Apprentice, Dawnpaw (gray and ginger she-cat)  
Shadetuft- fluffy black and white tom with green eyes  
Apprentice, Russetpaw (dark ginger tom with sand-colored flecks)  
Bearpelt- huge brown tom  
Amberfall- small, nimble, russet and cream she-cat with round amber eyes  
Longtalon- dark ginger tom with a long body  
Aspendust- gray she-cat with sand-colored patches  
Littlemouse- small brown tabby she-cat  
Lilacheart- light gray tabby she-cat 

Queens: 

Ivyshine- silver tabby she-cat with a shiny pelt and green eyes  
(Mother to Bearpelt’s kits: Quailkit, a grayish-brown tabby she-kit, and Rockykit, a dark gray tabby tom-kit) 

Elders: 

Berrydawn- ginger and cream she-cat with amber eyes  
Weedtail- scrawny yellow tom  
Twigflower- skinny dark brown tabby she-cat

Cats Outside the Clans:

Silversnake- slender silver tabby tom with blue eyes (formerly of ForestClan)


	2. Chapter 2

The rosy light of dawn lit up the CliffClan camp as the sun crept up over the horizon. Normally, the occupants of the camp would still be asleep at this time, but a mass of cats were gathered in the clearing, waiting anxiously for ForestClan’s new leader to return with his nine lives. 

As Lynxstar stepped through the entrance to the camp, a cacophony of yowls rang out. If he could have seen himself, he would have realized that his golden tabby pelt was shining with an almost unnatural dazzle, and that his amber eyes seemed to sparkle like stars. 

Tulipwhisker was the first to reach him. Although she looked greatly relieved and overjoyed to see her brother, she gave him a hard smack on the head with her paw. 

“You mousebrain!” she hissed. “Never run off like that again, do you understand?” 

“I understand,” said Lynxstar, bowing his head. “I’m sorry.” 

“We thought you were dead!” Grayspots yowled. He and Starlingwind affectionately wove around Lynxstar.

“Did you get your nine lives!?” Sprucetail exclaimed. 

“Yes, he did,” said Hemlocktail, coming to stand beside Lynxstar. 

“Lynxheart! Lynxheart!” Tulipwhisker’s kits, Flamekit and Frogkit, came bounding up to their uncle. 

“He’s Lynx _star_ now,” Tulipwhisker corrected them. 

“We thought you got eaten by the Dark Ones!” Frogkit cried. 

“See, I _told_ you he’d be okay,” Flamekit said to her brother. Turning to Lynxstar, she told him, “I knew you were too smart to let them catch you!” 

Lynxstar purred with amusement. Flamekit was only a moon old, yet already had the same sassy attitude as her mother. Then, Grayspots’s kits, Cloudkit and Mistkit, hurried over to Lynxstar, along with the other kits in the camp. They surrounded him, bombarding him with questions.

“Did it hurt getting your nine lives!?” 

“Did you really see StarClan!?” 

“Did you _die!?_ ”

“Alright, let’s give Lynxstar some space.” A LakeClan queen named Smewflight came over to the kits and gently swept them away with her long, bushy tail. 

“Congratulations, Lynxstar.” He turned around to see Shellstar and Drizzlestar walking up to him. It was incredibly odd to see both of them dip their heads to him. They’d been the leaders of their Clans since before he was born, always appearing so powerful and spirit-like at Gatherings. And now, all of a sudden, Lynxstar was equal to them. 

“I know it must be difficult, having to suddenly become leader when you are still so young,” Drizzlestar murmured in his ear. “Don’t be afraid to ask me for advice if you need it.”

Lynxstar purred gratefully. “Thank you,” he murmured back. 

“So, who’s going to be your deputy?” Shellstar asked. 

“Oh!” Lynxstar exclaimed. His ears grew hot with embarrassment—he had completely forgotten about that. 

“He has until moonhigh to decide,” said Tulipwhisker. “He should probably rest first before making such an important decision.” 

Lynxstar gave his sister a grateful nod. 

“I agree,” said Hemlocktail. “You’ve been through a lot. Why don’t you sleep for a bit in the medicine den?”

Lynxstar followed Hemlocktail towards the den. He hadn’t noticed until now just how exhausted he was. Oddly, all the wounds on his body from his fight with Wormclaw had vanished, as if StarClan had healed them. But his muscles ached horribly, and his head spun from everything that had happened in the past two days. Lynxstar was very thankful to crash into a nest of bracken. He almost immediately drifted off to sleep. 

Everything was very, very dark. All Lyxnstar could see was blackness. The air felt very, very hot, and the only sound he could hear was a bizarre sloshing sound. 

“H—hello, is anyone there!?” Lynxstar’s voice echoed. 

There was no response. The odd noise continued. A few minutes later, Lynxstar’s vision adjusted to the dark. He could just see the outline of something moving across the ground a few fox-lengths away from him. It appeared to be some sort of black and orange substance, crawling along like a snail, and making sickly gurgling sounds. It gave off an odd, sinister-looking glow. Lynxstar took a cautious step backwards. The air was growing hotter and hotter, until it seemed his fur was burning. He wanted to run, but for some reason his legs wouldn’t move. 

And then, suddenly, a dark shape appeared. For one heart-jolting moment, Lynxstar thought it was a Dark One…but instead, it was another cat. In the glow of the slime, he could just make out its shape. It was difficult to see, as its fur was as black as the surroundings, but he could clearly see amber eyes glazed over in agony. It was walking at an awkward, crooked angle, as if it were injured. With a gasp of horror, Lynxstar saw that the fur on its side seemed to have been burned away, revealing hideous deep red burns. 

With a ragged, wispy breath, the cat fell over on its side into the slime. Its eyes closed and its breathing stopped abruptly. The slime gurgled and boiled as the cat slowly sunk beneath its surface. Suddenly, it began to glow very, very brightly. Lynxstar was momentarily blinded. The hot, stagnant air grew thick and choking. Lynxstar gasped for breath with burning lungs. It was as if some sort of invisible poisonous mist was flooding the area. He had to get out of here immediately, but he had no idea how…

And then, the slime exploded. Emerging from the fiery, glowing mass was a Dark One. It was the largest, blackest Dark One Lynxstar had ever seen. Its body was so dark that it blocked out the light behind it, although its red eyes and white fangs were dazzlingly bright. It opened its mouth, letting out a deafening roar that shook the air and blew Lynxstar off his paws. He lay breathless on the hard floor as the Dark One towered over him. The pure hatred seething within the creature was palpable. It rippled through the air like a scorching hot wave, paralyzing Lynxstar. Then, with another roar, it spread its fangs, and dived for the helpless cat…

“Lynxstar!?”

“GAH!!”

He jumped up from his nest, reeling backwards and smashing his head on a boulder that made up part of the medicine den wall. Lynxstar yelped and crumpled into an agonized heap. 

“Lynxstar, what’s wrong!?” Hemlocktail was crouching over him. 

“It was a nightmare...or a vision...” Lynxstar panted. “I’m not sure which one. Oh StarClan, my head hurts!” 

“I’ll get you some poppy seeds,” said Hemlocktail. His voice was full of worry. “You were convulsing in your sleep. I thought you were having a seizure.” 

“Maybe I was. That vision was so intense,” Lynxstar groaned. 

Once he’d swallowed the poppy seeds, he found the strength to sit up and tell Hemlocktail what he’d seen. 

“I think I was in the reactor,” said Lynxstar. “No other place could be that naturally dark.” 

“It sounds like you saw the origin of the Dark Ones,” said Hemlocktail grimly. 

“Yeah, I know they were once a single, ordinary cat,” Lynxstar replied. “Whatever that substance was, it turned it into a monster.” 

Then Lynxstar remembered something. 

“I’ve seen that cat before!” he exclaimed. “She was talking with Wormclaw. Tymnyy is what she called herself.”

Hemlocktail’s eyes stretched wide. “How did she get into the Dark Forest!?” he cried. “She wasn’t a Clan cat—she shouldn’t have any connection to it.” 

“I don’t know.” Lynxstar scraped his claws across the den floor in frustration. “I just wish StarClan would tell me how to defeat the Dark Ones, instead of sending me these bizarre visions.” 

“I don’t think they know how,” said Hemlocktail quietly. “All they can do is provide you with what they do know.”

He paused, then said, “They’re doing all they can to help you, Lynxstar. Your parents, Wolfstar, Dusklight, and everyone else we’ve lost—they want more than anything to lead you to victory. I think that maybe we can win this battle.”

Lynxstar nodded. For the first time in moons, he shared the medicine cat’s deep faith in StarClan. 

“Yes, we will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "slime" is actually the Elephant's Foot in the Chernobyl reactor. You can read about it here:
> 
> http://nautil.us/blog/chernobyls-hot-mess-the-elephants-foot-is-still-lethal


End file.
